minimum wage is 9% lower in real terms than when introduced , fight for a living wage now !

The minimum wage was one of the better things new labor did it gave young people protection by the law in terms of low pay.


One of the better ideas by labour didn’t stop it finding difficulties as I have blogged on before many companies and employers find ways around paying minimum wage which still sits at a tiny level in 2012.

As the socialist party and youth fight for jobs we fight everyday for levels of pay and conditions which are falling all the time. At the moment the national minimum wage isn’t under huge threat from being scrapped but there may come a day. But while this is the case we must continue to fight hard and doggedly for a national living wage keeping pace with inflation as a reformist measure for workers.

As Marxists we are not reformist we may fight dam hard for the best reforms for working class people but also point out that reforms will never last and will be given with one hand and taken with the other by the ruling class.

SO a national living wage of 8 pounds an hour rising to 10 pounds an hour as a sliding scale of wages would be our stance. With trade union recognition in all workplaces and the right to join a trade union.

Everything is up for grabs right now and the minimum wage is not safe at all may be for now but it will come back on the agenda. It was just the other year Phillip Davies a Tory MP suggested disabled people taking jobs for less than minimum wage just to get work. How insulting. Gives me further impotence to fight for a living wage and ultimately the means of production to be in the hands of the working class where the wage labor system is abolished for good.

The minimum wage is no longer at the rate it was when it was introduced due to the cost of living and inflation. Yet no one is pointing this out only us labour who introduced the law is silent on the issue as they like the Tories are servants to the capitalist system and are in the pockets of big business and the bankers.

As well as fighting for a national living wage this must be linked to the need for a new workers party which can provide reforms with the eventual goal of transforming society to one based on everybody’s needs.